Day 23. The girls are growing a lot! 3 sets of fan leafs (not counting cotyledons and the first pair of leaves that it is not a typical fan leaf). The 3rd set is just coming out actually.
We've decided, based on advice in this thread, and some more research to do just Topping and LST (we have some long pipe cleaners for that).
Watering is getting though! I first put a hard plastic mesh (shaped like a spider web) to elevate the pots and let the water flow to the bottom of the tent. I thought that it would evaporate and actually give some needed humidity. Here is a picture of the setup (I also put an upside plate to provide extra distance from the floor as the plastic thingy was only 1cm tall):
(this picture is from day 21!!)
There was too much water. So I bought some plant plates yesterday. We watered with nutes on the 21, it was still very humid and wet yesterday. Today only water, It took us a little bit more than 5 liters to get a decent runoff!!!!. As I have the plates now what we do is: water the 2 plants from the back, wait a bit and let the water runoff. Then lift the plants (they are heavy! and not a lot of space so I can see my back getting destroy after a few weeks of doing this), take the plate, drop the water in another container, put them back. Then water the one near the opening of the tent, wait, take it out, clear the plate. Here they are today!
Not bad!
I'll appreciate advice on how to do the watering with less effort. Any technique or items I can buy. I have pots 11L (3Gal) and they are aprox 30cms diameter (a little bit less). We were thinking on buying a big oven tray (the grill ones)...60cms x 60cms (the size of the tent) and put some smaller rectangular trays underneath. Then we can water, get most of the water and try to take that out without having to move the plants. We'll think of something.
Second question is about Topping! We've read a lot, most of them say top on the 4th pair of leaves, others 3rd, others wait until the 6th then top up to the 3rd. What for us is not clear is: we know the cotyledon does not count....but what about the first pair of leaves? It's not really a normal fan leave (it does not have that 5 'star' shape). I've read also about the concept of 'node'. A node is a set of leaves that have growings in it's connection to the main branch. Now if I take that definition then that first pair of leaves count as a node as I can see now some growing at the base of the leaves, when they connect to the main branch. So we are confused.
So far I think I'll leave the current leaves grow, and the 3rd set, that is currently coming out (3rd without considering cotyledon nor the non star shaped leaves) will be topped (tomorrow or the day after tomorrow). Then we will do LST and pull the 1st set of fan leaves east and west, and the 2nd set of fan leaves north and south. Does that make sense?
I'll do more reading and wait for advice before topping!
Cheers!
Update: we just did some quick reading and I'm also considering not doing topping at all (or maybe some minimal) and do mostly LST. I think it will be good as I don't really have a symetrical setup. We can use the empty space of the lonely pot near the entrance. I think it will be a little crowded in there, but I can always chop some if they get wild.
you should heck him out.
I just skin it and poke it through then fold it over its self a bunch of times to make like a knot, works fannntastic! Do you pinch the branch before you bend it? It makes knuckles in the stock increasing plant uptake and over all strength.... It was explained to me as a double lane highway before you pinch then after it turnes to a 4 lane, allowing for a stronger, bigger and healthier plant. Esp comes in handy when your colas are getting big and want to bend the branch down to the ground!
